EA to sponsor all Sky TV science-fiction programmes

Electronic Arts has signed an exclusive deal with BSkyB to sponsor all of its science fiction programming across Sky One, Two and Three in the UK. It is part of a strategy by the games publisher to ramp up its sponsorship activity.

EA will run branded idents around series such as The 4400, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek, and will include break-bumpers screened across about 1,500 episodes of sci-fi programming on Sky channels. The one-year deal will begin later this month with the new series of The 4400.

EA marketing director Gary Booker says: “Sky’s huge catalogue of sci-fi programming is consistently scheduled across Sky One, Sky Two and Sky Three, allowing us to reach a massive audience through huge coverage and frequency. Through our established gaming franchises such as Battlefield and Command & Conquer, we already have a strong association with scifi fans.”

In a separate move, EA has announced an exclusive partnership with movie director Steven Spielberg to develop three new games exclusively for Nintendo’s Wii console.

Announcing the tie-up at the E3 gaming conference, Spielberg said: “I am a gamer myself and game development has always intrigued me. Now I’ve been able to jump in and do it.”